Homeowners Insurance for Homestead????

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Alaskajohn

Alaskajohn

Bugged out
Neighbor
HCL Supporter
Joined
Oct 2, 2020
Messages
2,923
Location
Alaska
I have not found an insurance company that will insure my property. The good news, I own my place free and clear. The bad news is that I live well beyond the response range of any fire department which is a requirement of every insurance company I've called. USAA, State Farm, Allstate, among many others have all refused to ensure due to not being in a fire department response zone. Is anyone aware of companies that ensure remote and semi-remote properties? Even if I can't ensure my residence for loss, it would be good to have liability insurance. So far, no luck.

Thanks!
 
That's a tough one. When we bought our farm we asked neighbors. Because part of our land is in a "flood zone" (??) and we did find insurance but not for the buildings in that area and not for the 100 yr old barn. They did insure the farm house, though. I would ask anyone in your closest vicinity who they use.
 
Explore a "Stand alone" Umbrella policy for liability. Maybe could be added to an auto/vehicle policy.

Also people should be sure their real property assets are held in the most prudent legal method. And this shifts, as you move through life. Some methods of holding title can impact or insulate/mitigate liability claims.
 
I am not sure how liability insurance works for property that is your primary residence, but for our rental properties, we have each one owned by an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation). The renters pay rent to the LLC, not to us directly. So if they were ever to sue, they can only sue the LLC that they pay rent to. And that LLC only owns the house they are living in. They cannot get to my personal house, or my savings, or anything like that.

I do not know if this LLC thing would apply to your property, which I assume is your main home. I just bring it up in case it might be of benefit for you in some way in the liability area. You'd have to ask a lawyer in your state probably.
 
One thing to know is insurance companies loath insuring a home if it's primary source of heat is woodstove (which is common in rural Alaska).

Friends of mine could not get insurance on their cabin, so they installed a Toyo Oil Fired heater and told the insurance company that the new TOYO was now their primary method of heating, and only on special holidays do they use the woodstove for its charm and merriment.
 
Alaskajohn said:
I have not found an insurance company that will insure my property. The good news, I own my place free and clear. The bad news is that I live well beyond the response range of any fire department which is a requirement of every insurance company I've called. USAA, State Farm, Allstate, among many others have all refused to ensure due to not being in a fire department response zone. Is anyone aware of companies that ensure remote and semi-remote properties? Even if I can't ensure my residence for loss, it would be good to have liability insurance. So far, no luck.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Well it could be worse.
Down here in "hurricane alley" you can get homeowner's insurance from all those big-name companies.
They will all be happy to insure you :thumbs: . (None cover water damage, of course).
You just have to pay close attention to the deductible.
A neighbor's home was insured when storm-winds blew a lot of shingles off his roof.
His deductible: $13,000 , just slightly more than what a new roof costs
brickwall100.gif
.
Thanks insurance company!!!
clapslow.gif
For nothing.
If your house is paid-for, you would be better off getting a low-interest loan for half it's value, putting the money in a savings account, and make your monthly 'insurance' payments on the loan.
If you never file a 'claim' you get to keep the money.

p.s. If you look at the majority of skyscrapers, they have the name of an insurance company on top of them. Too many people pay for stuff that they can never use:mad:.
 
Supervisor42 said:
His deductible: $13,000 , just slightly more than what a new roof costs
brickwall100.gif
.
Click to expand...
I wish our new roof would have cost "only $13,000". Ours is not an excessively large roof either. I think our costs are just higher up here in Colorado, where high winds and hail storms routinely damage roofs.

If anybody thinks that they will ever "get their money back" from paying insurance premiums ... ha! HaHaHa!!! Your policy will "fail to be renewed" long before you have a glimmer of a chance of that.
 
Haertig said:
I wish our new roof would have cost "only $13,000". Ours is not an excessively large roof either. I think our costs are just higher up here in Colorado, where high winds and hail storms routinely damage roofs.

If anybody thinks that they will ever "get their money back" from paying insurance premiums ... ha! HaHaHa!!! Your policy will "fail to be renewed" long before you have a glimmer of a chance of that.
Click to expand...
Last 2 roofs changed around here were $10K and $12K for typical 3br-2ba homes, and those were with the good shingles, not tab shingles. I could say that tab shingles don't fly down here, but yes, they do fly... into your neighbor's yard! :oops:
@The Lazy L , good investment! Those easily pass our actual 80mph wind test down here!
Every roof in Lake Charles that wasn't wearing a blue tarp after Laura, were those.
 
@Alaskajohn
Our house up the river is beyond the fire dept. zone. We have Oregon Mutual for it (in Oregon.) You might actually call the local credit union or mortgage lenders. Insurance is required to obtain a loan so they would be more apt. to know which companies to turn to in your area.
 
Thanks everyone for their input! I now have a few additional leads to look into!
 
I don't know much about the insurance, but do the LLC thing.

Case in point: Local farmer leaves his $100,000 tractor, with 5 shank ripper, in his field at the end of the day. He intends to come back tomorrow to continue ripping his field. The keys are in it. That night, drunk high school punk kid steals the tractor and ripper and goes joyriding down the gravel road - with the ripper 2 inches below road level! This is a 4 wheel drive, 300 hp tractor with dual tires. Mailboxes, fences, the road surface, etc. all get destroyed. Guess who got sued? Yup, the farmer, for leaving a tempting target in his own field. The farmer eventually won, but if he lost he'd have lost everything. An LLC could mitigate that risk.

LLCs can have some advantages otherwise. I know farmer's who have a farm LLC and a trucking company LLC. The farm hires the trucking company to haul the farm's grain. The farmer owns both - he essentially pays himself to haul his own grain. Then the farm can write off the expense of hiring the trucking company...
 
Spikedriver said:
I don't know much about the insurance, but do the LLC thing.

LLCs can have some advantages otherwise. I know farmer's who have a farm LLC and a trucking company LLC. The farm hires the trucking company to haul the farm's grain. The farmer owns both - he essentially pays himself to haul his own grain. Then the farm can write off the expense of hiring the trucking company...
Click to expand...

Yes but the farmer has to pay income tax on his income. Also if the two LLC's are owned by the same person they can be tied to the owner and each of the three can be liable for liabilities in court. The one in charge of and with access to the funds is still in danger.
The best way to financially insulate yourself is to have it in a corporate trust with a separate control (board of directors) to manage and disperse funds. It can be set up so any payments are made only upon 100% agreement of the board. But then you no longer control or have access to the funds.
 
SheepDog said:
The one in charge of and with access to the funds is still in danger.
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Maybe in your state, but not in mine. Not for the case I described. We own the trust, and the trust owns the LLC's, and the renters each rent from the specific LLC that "owns" the house they are renting (I believe that's the way we set it up). The trust is not necessary from a liability standpoint (the LLC's cover that) ... we have the trust for other reasons.

The above is why lawyers are so rich. They don't set that kind of stuff up for free. Although in my state, you can set up your own LLC for free. Online. I think actually my wife created the LLC's, but the lawyer did the work of incorporating them into the trust (and setting up the trust in the first place).

These things vary by state, which is why you need to have your estate plan completed in the state you reside in, or at least have a lawyer from your state review things. You will find that some things don't matter what state they are from - e.g., HIPAA forms - and other things are best to be written as a document of your state - e.g., Powers of Attorney (this is not strictly necessary, but it makes things a lot easier if it is the case). Another thing to be aware of (if you're married and move to a new state) are Community Property vs. Non Community Property states. You definitely need your estate plans reviewed if moving from one type of state to the other is your situation.
 
Alaskajohn said:
I have not found an insurance company that will insure my property. The good news, I own my place free and clear. The bad news is that I live well beyond the response range of any fire department which is a requirement of every insurance company I've called. USAA, State Farm, Allstate, among many others have all refused to ensure due to not being in a fire department response zone. Is anyone aware of companies that ensure remote and semi-remote properties? Even if I can't ensure my residence for loss, it would be good to have liability insurance. So far, no luck.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
What are you looking to cover with insurance?

Have you considered installing your own fire suppression system?

Ben
 
Neb said:
What are you looking to cover with insurance?

Have you considered installing your own fire suppression system?

Ben
Click to expand...

Ben, great questions. I touched on this in my opening post. I am most interested in liability insurance to protect against a lawsuits. At present, I have only allowed immediate family on my property, or if I contract with someone to work, they must have the prerequisite license/bonded/insured status. But I can prevent all risks through being careful.

For fire suppression, I spent the majority of my first 4 years improving my fire defense and suppression systems. I can almost write a book over what I've done, but only so much is humanly possible when you need to stay in budget. As far as Alaska goes, I am not in areas that have massive wildfires fires yearly, and there are some natural barriers and prevailing winds that are in my favor. It would still be nice to ensure against catastrophic loss regardless of the cause of the loss. And the number one reason for loss in remote Alaska is a house fire followed by wildfires.
 
Haertig said:
I wish our new roof would have cost "only $13,000". Ours is not an excessively large roof either. I think our costs are just higher up here in Colorado, where high winds and hail storms routinely damage roofs.

If anybody thinks that they will ever "get their money back" from paying insurance premiums ... ha! HaHaHa!!! Your policy will "fail to be renewed" long before you have a glimmer of a chance of that.
Click to expand...

An an insurance policy is just a bet you make against yourself. Personally, I think everyone would be better off saving that money and investing it in hardening their place rather than gambling with it.
 
Alaskajohn said:
I am most interested in liability insurance to protect against a lawsuits.
Click to expand...

Did you see the thread on trespassing law in Alaska, we did on the AOF...??
 
Sourdough said:
Did you see the thread on trespassing law in Alaska, we did on the AOF...??
Click to expand...

I did see that thread, but that was a bit ago if I recall. I will pull it up tonight to refresh my memory.
 
My beautiful wife buys emergency medical transport insurance. For only like 40-50 bucks a year. Lifemed if I remember correctly. When I'm at the cabin, or out on a walkabout, and can make connection to the outside world. If I have an accident they will come n get me with a helicopter. I am hoping to put up a platform for them to land on out in the open. Near the cabin.
I feel that is a great price, especially for the comfort it gives my beautiful wife. And she has called them on me and gone through the process. But things turned out ok so Thank You Good Lord
 
Aklogcabin said:
My beautiful wife buys emergency medical transport insurance. For only like 40-50 bucks a year. Lifemed if I remember correctly. When I'm at the cabin, or out on a walkabout, and can make connection to the outside world. If I have an accident they will come n get me with a helicopter. I am hoping to put up a platform for them to land on out in the open. Near the cabin.
I feel that is a great price, especially for the comfort it gives my beautiful wife. And she has called them on me and gone through the process. But things turned out ok so Thank You Good Lord
Click to expand...

Ouch, that reminds me that we have put up obstacles on the only decent landing site within miles of our place. I still haven’t found liability or home insurance and doubt we ever will.
 
Aklogcabin said:
My beautiful wife buys emergency medical transport insurance. For only like 40-50 bucks a year. Lifemed if I remember correctly. When I'm at the cabin, or out on a walkabout, and can make connection to the outside world. If I have an accident they will come n get me with a helicopter. I am hoping to put up a platform for them to land on out in the open. Near the cabin.
I feel that is a great price, especially for the comfort it gives my beautiful wife. And she has called them on me and gone through the process. But things turned out ok so Thank You Good Lord
Click to expand...

We have that here too. $50 per year covers the family. I should say... $50 if you have health insurance, $100 if you don't.
 
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